Thursday Nights
by CuriosityComplex
Summary: After the required time to study Jane's schedule (and their interactions), it becomes clear to Maura that they have yet to meet on a Thursday night. The mention of this revelation quickly leads them down a path to discover a side of Jane that Maura was yet to meet. - Rizzles - ON HIATUS (apologies)
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing.  
All rights reserved to the creators of Rizzoli &amp; Isles and TNT.**

**This story is entirely my own based on TNT original characters. **

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**You guys should know that you're the best readers anyone could ask for! I really hope you enjoy this story. **

**Thank you so much for reading!  
PS: I LOVE FEEDBACK (and prompts are never unwanted)**

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"Hey, I was thinking that perhaps we could try that new organic restaurant that opened up a couple of blocks from the precinct." Maura said, with a little excitement in her voice. "I'd really love to try their baby beet stir-fry. The critics have given it some amazing reviews."

"Eugh, really?" She groaned. "Can't we just get a burger from the Dirty Robber or something?" She says, slumping into the couch.

Maura sighs, pursing her lip. "Oh come on, try something different. Your body will thank you," she says in attempt to persuade Jane.

"Yeah… Um, the last time I tried something different I got gas like a trucker from the cabbage chips you made me eat." She said with a childish smile.

Maura couldn't help but let out a small giggle. "This will be different, I promise!" She begged. "They don't have cabbage chips…" She laughed.

Jane lets out a huff before finally relenting. "Fine…" She whines. "But! I will eat whatever I choose from the menu. I don't know why your chef friend insisted on these 'AMAZING' cabbage chips."

Maura smiles, "Deal. How about Thursday evening?"

"Ah, nope. Planning to get some stuff done that night. Friday though?"

"Hm, that should work. If you want, you can leave some clothes here so you can get changed quickly after work?" Maura offers politely.

Immediately, Jane's eye brow rises, "What's wrong with my clothes?"

Maura looks at Jane blankly, suddenly quiet, with her usual verbose self taking shelter somewhere in her mind.

"My work clothes will be fine," Jane says, taking a breath trying to show that she's not actually mad. "Besides," she pleads, "It'll be faster to go from work anyway." She just smiles, attempting to convey peace.

"That is true," Maura says, easing back into the conversation. "I will meet you in the bullpen after work then." She too is now smiling.

••••

"Are you ready?" Maura said excitedly as she entered the bullpen.

"Yep, I- " Jane paused as she looked up at the woman across the room. "You got changed," she said a little puzzled, taking in how always ready her friend was a full spread photo shoot.

"Yes, I really wanted to wear my new skirt," she says looking down with a smile, smoothing down the fabric over her hip.

"It's … nice." Jane really did think it was a nice skirt, she was still just a little thrown at how amazing her friend looked. Always looked. "Ah, anyway," she said refocusing. "Yep, I'm ready. Let's go."

On the way to the car, both women were relatively quiet. Glancing over from the driver's seat though, Jane noticed a peculiar look on Maura's face. "Do you need to pass gas?" She said slowly.

Maura's eye brows were still furrowed a little as she began to speak. "No, I have a very balanced diet that is successfully maintaining regular and comfortable bowel movements." She said frankly.

Jane's jaw dropped slightly, still not used to Maura's frequent habit of not necessarily appropriate comments. "Right," she said pausing. "I was asking because you look like you're thinking something," she said in a leading manner.

"Oh. Yes, I was. I realised something."

"…Okay? And what's that?"

"That," she emphasised, "is the fact that we have never done anything on a Thursday night together." Her words are revelationary.

Jane is a little bit rattled, but quickly rebuts, "Sure we have!"

"No. We haven't." She says, completely unphased by the hint of desperation in her friend's voice.

"Yeah! Remember that time we were in that fancy schmancy restaurant that you had to book 6 months in advance to get into?"

"The only reason we were there was because we were called to the scene of a dead body!" She laughed. "That doesn't quite count for what I had in mind."

"Yeah…" she said hesitantly. "BUT it was a Thursday." She too is laughing now.  
"Anyway! What's the menu like at this place?" She said subtly attempted to deflect.

"Well, we're almost there, so why don't you just wait a minute or two." She smiles at Jane's unwavering impatience.

"Fine…" She said gruffly, though they both knew just how much she put that act on.

Maura just pursed her lips in a smile.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jane could see her friend's face begin to light up as they drove within eyesight of the restaurant.

When they sat down at their booked table they both looked around the restaurant in awe. Maura's amazement was stemmed in the success of a not-so mainstream style of restaurant. Jane, however, was taking in how many people who so caught up by the organic food fad. She figured, as long as she wasn't dead then the food wasn't killing her.

"Ooh, the organic quinoa with Egyptian spiced chicken sounds good," she said with a contented smile.

"Yeah…" she said in a sardonic tone. "Why does everything on menu have quinoa?" She said, genuinely puzzled by the sentiment. Pausing, she then continued you on in her usual tone, "I think I'll go with the sweet potato pizza. Couldn't be that bad, right?"

Maura refrained from rolling her eyes at Jane's quirks, but she couldn't deny she found them endearing.

After the waiter took their order, Maura tried with the utmost subtlety to once again raise the point about Thursday nights. "So…" She paused as she observed the curious look staring back at her. "You never really did elaborate as to why we have never done anything on a Thursday night."

Jane looked in her eyes and smiled. "Would you like to hang out on Thursday?"

Maura smiled as well, and said, "That's not why I was asking."

"Alright, then forget I asked," she teased.

"Okay, yes," she jumped.

"Okay then. But I get to choose what we do." She smirked.

"Deal," she nodded, quite pleased with the outcome.

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**I would like to thank Remix-this/dancingfool121 for the prompt. My apologies for not necessarily doing it justice, but I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. **

_**dancingfool121**__** answered: **__**Rizzles person A gets a new hobby which person B finds weird and endearing.**_

**Anyway, thank you so much to everyone for reading. I'd really love some feedback. **

**Also, apologies for typos. As some of you may know, I haven't been feeling to well and haven't always been checking my work. But I will when I'm better! **

**Hope you're all happy and well. **

**Don't forget: LOVE FEEDBACK (good and bad)**


	2. Chapter 2

The next Wednesday at work, Jane had caught a case of a young man with peculiar body shapings ending up dead in the South End. When she got down to the autopsy, Maura was already intently staring at her trying to figure out where her head is.

"…Hi" She said obscurely.

"Hello Jane," she said, her facial expression immediately smiling once she began speaking.

"Um… What?" Jane raised an eye brow.

"Nothing," she said quickly and nervously. "As you can see, the victim has had numerous body alterations including 'elf ears' sometimes referred to as 'spock ears' although I'm not sure why, as well as artificial implants which are the reason for the elevated dots in a spiral pattern on his forearm."

"You don't know wh- nevermind. So people actually do this stuff to themselves?"

"Well, not to themselves, but I do believe that in most cases these procedures are performed with the patient's consent." Her words had now returned to her usual clinical vocabulary. "I am yet to open him up, but I have sent his bloodwork through and should get the results back in the next hour or so."

"Okay, so is there anything I should know right now?" Jane asked professionally.

"Not that I can confirm."

Jane let her eyes roll back a little at the thought of Maura's incapacity to guess. "Okay, well, lemme know when that changes." She turned and began heading out of the room.

"Jane!" Maura called, leading to her doorknob question. "Are we still on for tomorrow night?"

Jane smiled at the revelation of Maura's insatiably curious mind. "Yes," she said happily. "Bye Maura," she teased.

Maura let out a small huff of air, relieved and happy to hear that their plans hadn't changed… Whatever those plans actually were.

••••

"Nice shoes," Jane said a little sarcastically. "Take them off," she said with a deadly straight face.

"What? Why?" She said a little frazzled but the remark.

"You can't wear those shoes where we're going," Jane reasoned.

"But-" Maura said before being cut off.

"Put it this way, you can wear your fancy new heels and risk getting them damaged or you can change into a more comfortable and less delicate pair of shoes and be fine." Jane's face was saying something like, "It's simple, just do it." Only expressed with an awareness of what was to come, of course.

Maura let out a huffing sigh before saying, "Fine…" She was unhappy with her decision, but she did know the risk of doing whatever Jane did on Thursdays.

"Great," she said with an ambivalent tone. She also knew the risk of tonight, and she had been practising all the phrases and sentences that may come up that had been carefully worded so that Maura didn't think she was weird. As it turned out, Jane was a little scared, which surprised even herself.

They both got into Jane's car and began driving. The sky was changing into a deeper and somewhat mysterious navy of a Boston night. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" Maura said as if there was only one acceptable answer.

Lightly but defiantly Jane glanced away from the road to look at her friend and said, "Nope." She smiled, satisfied with her response.

Maura pursed her lips at her friend's curious answer knowing that she had no power in changing it. "Well, am I at least wearing appropriate clothing?"

At a set of red lights, Jane looked her friend up and down and said, "Yep. I told you to wear something comfortable that you could move in and you did… Except for the heels," she laughed.

"Well, I like to wear heels. I feel like I am more prepared for most situations in them. Like I am perceived in a way that I wish to be perceived as."

"Uncomfortable, you mean?" She joked.

"No," she said glaring at the woman in the driver's seat. "Like a woman who takes pride in how she looks. A woman who can take on any role and do it well."

In all her caring seriousness, she said, "You don't need the heels for that. But I'll stop. At least we had something else for you to wear. And you look just as prepared but in … a different way." She struggled to find words to make that sound good.

Moving right along in the conversation, Maura said, "Can you tell me how long it will take to get there?"

"Not long," she said smiling at Maura's discomfort of not knowing. "About five more minutes."

Eventually they drove into the carpark of a place called "King's Back Bay".

"Surprisingly," Maura said with her usual straight face, "knowing the name does not help me at all."

Jane just laughed. "Come on. Let's go inside." She smiled. The slight fear she felt before was now being overtaken by excitement.

However, some of that fear has now transferred to Maura. "Are you sure I'm dressed okay for this?" She said looking down, smoothing out the fabric.

"I'm sure." She smiled again. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm here, so what's the worst that could happen." She joked knowing that they'd both be thinking about all the bad things that had happened to them in the past.

Maura tried to act cool, but she was (un)subtly rubbing her forearm as they got closer to what seemed to be a rather large building for just one business.  
As they walked in the door, the sound environment completely shifted to that of a calm night to… mayhem. This did nothing to soothe her nerves. She looked at the ceiling and at the walls trying to decipher where exactly they were before they got to the main area. The floor that she saw was carpeted, and there were different things hanging on the walls.

As they approached a counter, a young man in a short-sleeve button up shirt said, "Good evening ladies," in a very light and playful manner. "How can I help you ton- Oh hey Jane. Brought a friend I see," he said smugly.

Jane smiled, almost a little embarrassed. "Yeah, the usual. Plus my friend, of course." She said tilting her head in Maura's direction.

Maura still had no idea what was going on.

"What size are you?" The young man asked.

"Pardon?" Maura said as if he were speaking another language.

The young man looked to Jane, implying the same question.

"She's a seven." Jane said without looking to Maura.

"Righto." And like that, he had disappeared in a back room.

Maura looked to Jane still quite puzzled. But before she could become too concerned, the young man returned with a rather unattractive pair of shoes in hand.

"Take off your shoes," Jane said politely to Maura.

Maura furrowed her brow and replied, "What?"

"You have to wear these shoes." She said as kindly as she could, knowing how uncomfortable this was for her friend.

"Wh- What about you?"

"I have my own." She smiled. She gave a quick nod as if to say it was going to be okay.

Maura nervously reached down and began to unlace her casual sneakers, as she called them. Really, they were Chucks, which Jane had convinced her to try against her will a few months back.

Jane just smiled. She was no longer nervous nor excited. She was just happy. Happy to be there with her friend. She just hoped it didn't backfire.

Once Maura had put on the particularly unattractive black and white shoes, she was lead to a larger area with polished wooden floors. She looked around and took in her surroundings before asking, "Is this a bowling alley?"

Jane let out a laugh before sarcastically saying, "No, it's the jungle." She nudged her friend as she spoke. And then it hit her. "Oh my god! You've never been to one before!" She exclaimed with shock.

"No, although I have seen them of television," she said clinically as if life was to be studied rather than lived.

"Damn… well, this is going to be an interesting night," she laughed.

"Yes, I suppose it is," she said with a growing smile. She thought she'd be overwhelmed, but she wasn't. She was almost feeling... excited.

"Oh, hang on." Jane disappeared back to the front for a few moments before returning. "Okay, let's do this."

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**All will be revealed shortly, my faithful friends.  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my apologies for it taking so long. **

**I love all feedback, prompts and messages, so don't be shy. **

**Thank you so much for reading. **

**Hope you're happy and well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**My god, you are the best readers. Thank you to the person who commented, "Jane's in a lesbian bowling league? ;)" Hahaha. You guys are great.  
Thanks for all the feedback and thanks so much for reading. I really hope you're enjoying it so far! **

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Jane bowled first, and knocked down 8 pins in total after watching two remaining tremble with fear before finally stabilising again. She was a little annoyed at this, but that didn't deduct from the joy she felt as the ball left her hands with a thunk and rolled down the lane with inconceivable precision and power.

Once the screen had cleared her and moved onto Maura, she watched as a barrier of sorts rose up from both the sides of the lane. Maura looked puzzled and turned to Jane asking, "What are those?"

"Gutter guards," she said without hesitation. Looking to Maura though, she realised this didn't actually help her to understand anything. "They stop the ball from going into the gutters when you're learning." She smiled as if this were a kind gesture.

Maura however was unimpressed, thinking that bowling couldn't be that hard. I mean, how hard could it actually be to throw a ball in a straight line. She played netball well into college, and la crosse.

Jane saw what her actions had evoked, and quickly spoke the voice of reason. "I didn't mean you couldn't do it, it's just… It's hard at first. It's a weird feeling to be throwing a 12 pound ball into the air and having it hit polished wood. I was crap at it when I started," she persuaded. "And if it weren't for gutter guards I wouldn't have stuck with it! I probably would have hurled the ball at someone's head instead." She smiled, encouraging Maura to see both the humour and validity of her words.

Maura still slightly displeased decided that it wasn't a completely unreasonable thing to do. Her attention was quickly diverted to the ball she had chosen (or that Jane had chosen for her). After watching Jane, she attempted to place her fingers into the holes as her friend had done previously. When she went to pick it up, much to her surprise, she was a little shocked at how heavy the ball was. She wasn't sure what she had actually expected it to weigh, but this was somehow not it.

It was clear to Jane that Maura had tensed her arm muscles holding the ball, so she said, "Hang on, hang on…" The words were spoken as she started to catch up to Maura, a few steps ahead. "You need to relax your muscles a little," she said with a wise smile. "Get your fingers comfortable in each of the holes and then lower the ball to your side so it's just dangling next to your leg."

Maura moved her hands and fingers around a little before taking a deep breath, rotating her shoulders a little and then lowering the ball to her side. The ball still felt heavy, but she had to admit that it was far less straining on her whole body to carry it this way.

"See…" Jane teased, not even letting her get a word in before she could say 'I told you so'. "Now, when you're ready, just draw the ball back, take a couple of steps towards the line and swing it forward." Her smile became genuine. As funny as she thought Maura looked, she wanted to share this with her, albeit nosy (or they wouldn't be here), friend.

Maura took a deep breath in, drew the ball back and in a couple of steps launched it forward down the lane.

"Woo!" She let out involuntarily, genuinely impressed with Maura's bowl. She kind of expected the bowl to bounce off the gutter guards all the way down.

Maura had successfully knocked down 6 pins. She smiled, pleased with her first efforts.

"Dr. Isles, you are strong!" She exclaimed with surprise.

"Just because I do yoga and wear 'fancy pants' clothes," she said mockingly, "doesn't mean I don't have excellent muscle tone."

"Yeah, I guess so," she said letting out a laugh still in slight disbelief. A part of her was actually uncomfortable with how impressed she was. I mean, Jane knew how smart Maura was, how disciplined she was, even how fit she was… But somehow, seeing her bowl a ball with such ease on her first go displayed an amount of strong and control that left Jane with an unfamiliar feeling towards her friend. Shoving them down, or at least trying to, she said, "Well, your turn's not over yet. You've got another go." By this point, a slight smile was stuck on her face.

Maura took a focusing breath before picking up another ball and repeating her steps back towards the foul line. Just as the ball left her hand she heard Jane behind her.

"OH! We need food!" She exclaimed as if it were devastating that they hadn't already gotten some.

Maura turned around and frowned unimpressed at her friend's lack of regard for her focus.

Immediately Jane looked guilty. "Sorry…" She said in a sweet little voice. "But don't worry! You'll have plenty more turns." She said attempting to make the frown before her disappear. "Besides, 7 out of 10 is awesome for your first turn! At this rate I'm gonna get my ass kicked."

Maura's expression lightened as she failed to hold back a small laugh. "Fine…" She said, pretending to still be mad. "So, what do people eat when they come here?"

Jane developed a huge grin and said, "I'm glad you asked."

Maura knew she was in trouble now.

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**So sorry it took so long for an update!  
Thank you so much to you all for reading. I really hope that you have enjoyed this story so far. **

**Thank you again to ****Remix-this**** for the prompt!  
**

**If you have a prompt, message or any kind of feedback, they are all welcome!**

**You are superb! Thank you again.**

**Hope you're happy and well.**


	4. Chapter 4

Jane left Maura at the lane pleading that she wanted it to be a surprise so that she could be "completely immersed in the culture," she said in her posh sarcastic voice.

As she sat, Maura looked at all the other bowlers. There were families, people who seemed to be professionals, and groups of friends that were there just to have fun. She felt a little pleased that she was there with Jane… her friend, her family and a professional.

"Alright!" She announced excitedly upon her return. "Food is ordered and it's time to play." What began with a smirk quickly grew to a grin. "Come here."

Maura was once again confused, which she noticed was becoming a recurring event this evening. She looked at Jane who was holding her (Maura's) ball standing nearer to the lane. "But it's your turn," she said, still completely lost.

"Oh, who cares. Come on!"

Maura was hesitant to stand, so she continued looking at Jane searching for an answer she'd understand. Her smile had grown softer and there was a kindness in her eyes. At that moment she didn't care that she had no idea. It seemed as if Jane was reaching out, and she didn't want to turn her away. Quickly, she stood up and walked to her side.

Jane held out the ball with one hand, gesturing for her to take it.

Maura took the ball and stood awaiting further instruction.

"Alright so, when you are lining up your bowl, you want focus the centre arrow on the floor just past the foul line."

Maura looked to the ground, following instructions to a t.

"That way, when you release the ball, it's more liking to go where you want it to."

Maura just nodded contently at the information.

"Have a go," she smiled.

Maura took a deep breath, took a few steps back and prepared herself. _One, two, three, release. One, two, three, release. 220degrees, 180degrees, 140 degrees. _She thought trying to contribute to a good outcome. Step, step, step and release.

"Nice," remarked Jane as she watched on. "Another six pins," she smiled.

Maura seemed somewhat disappointed that it was not a better outcome than the first time around. And much to her surprise, it was obvious to Jane.

"It's a process. Don'worry." She smiled.

Maura knew this, but she still wasn't completely satisfied. Despite her own response, she went to have a second bowl. This time she tried harder to relax her body so that the roll could be a fluid like movement. As she released the ball, she watched it roll down the lane veering to the left slightly.

"Another pin, not bad," Jane smiled genuinely. "That happened though, because your right arm swung in front of your body slightly instead of in a straight line next to it." She paused. "It took me ages to kick that habit when I first started."

Before Maura had a chance to respond, they were interrupted by a young waiter who had arrived with a tray of drinks and food. He lay them down on the table without a word then disappeared as they each said their thank you.

Maura was quite stunned by the colour and amount of food before them. "What is all this?" She said quite happily.

"Well, I figured if you're gonna do it you should do it right."

"So you consume all of this each time you partake in bowling?" Maura asked curiously.

She let out an involuntary burst of laugh before saying with a straight face, "No." Her face lightened as she continued. "Like I said, your first time is important. It should be done right." She smiled.

"Alright then. So, what are we having?" She said excitedly.

"Ladies and gentleman," Jane mocked in a fancy voice. "On tonight's menu we have one Red Zeppelin, one Pink Elephant and a generous variety of appetisers to suit everyone's tastes." Finishing her words, eye brows still raised in poshness, she leant forward and ate a corn chip, quite satisfied with her teasing. She continued, though, in her usual voice. "So, the Red Zeppelin is yours and it's got lots of sweet stuff."

Maura reached out for one of the colourful concoctions before her. "Why would you think I like sweet drinks?" Her words were curious and authoritative, in such a way that said 'I'm not necessarily as easy as you'd think'.

Jane knew to tread carefully but said, "I dunno. Just seems like if you were gonna get drunk, it'd be on sweet cocktails and stuff."

Maura tried not to be offended. "So what, other than 'sweet stuff', is in it?" She said with a raised eye brow.

"I'm glad you asked. Strawberry &amp; Citrus Vodkas, Peach Liqueur, Strawberry &amp; Raspberry Purees, Fresh Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup &amp; Lemonade." Her words implied that Maura should be impressed.

But Maura didn't always take too well to instructions. Instead she picked up the glass, inspected the way the mixture had settled and then took a pensive sip.  
"Mm," she said before quickly making sure her face wasn't giving away too much. Without too much enthusiasm she simply said, "Not bad."

Jane couldn't help but smirk knowing exactly how Maura felt about the drink she'd just tried. "Uh-huh… Anyway, this is my drink. And before you say anything," she warned, "Just because it's called a Pink Elephant doesn't mean I'm going to start wearing dresses and trying to impress all the boys. I didn't name the drink!" She argued.

"Mhm…" Maura could be snarky too. "So, what is in your drink?" She asked curiously.

"Mango, Vanilla &amp; Coconut Rums, Pineapple Juice &amp; Grenadine topped with Champagne."

This was obviously a drink that Jane was very familiar with. Maura was a little shocked that it wasn't in a brown glass bottle with a metal cap. "Sounds lovely," she smiled. "And the food?" She continued. "Would you care to enlighten me as to what these are?"

"We've got Teri-Dactyl Chicken wings, Bacon Cheddar Tots, Guacamole and Mango salsa with tortilla chips, Cajun Fries with sour cream and a Kale &amp; Quinoa Salad to keep a healthy balance." She smiled.

"That's not a healthy balance," Maura rebutted.

"Uh-huh. Just eat, Maur," she said nudging her friend playfully.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. **

**Really hope you're all happy and well. If you're not though, you know where to find me. **

**Firstly, to Remix-This : I am proud of you! Yo****u've done amazingly!**

**To you all: Please let me know what you think; I love feedback (good and bad). Apologies about punctual errors. I will fix them over the weekend. **

**In the meantime, feel free to send me a message with prompts or hellos. I like both. C: **

**Take care and thank you so much for reading. **


	5. Chapter 5

"I think I'll try the Bacon Cheddar Tots first," Maura said with an excited smile. Whilst it was all quite new to her, she had every intention of experiencing every one.

"Be careful, it's-"

Jane was cut off by the slight choking sounds that Maura was making after placing one in her mouth and realising just how hot the cheese had gotten.

She giggled slightly before continuing caringly with, "Are you okay?" Still with a slight guilty smile on her face.

Maura was still trying to swallow it to stop that hot sensation in her mouth. Eventually she managed though and remarked, "It's, ah, quite warm."

Jane just laughed. "Yes, they are quite warm," she said with a slightly mocking tone. "The sour cream helps with that."

"I must say though, despite the uncomfortably hot if not given the time to properly cool, they are quite delicious."

"Really?" Jane said excitedly. She too wanted Maura to enjoy it all. Even though it wasn't exactly her cup of tea, she wanted her to experience it. That's why she had ordered so much. The fact that she also liked what she was tasting made Jane remarkably happy, though she'd try her best not give that away.

"Mm," she nodded. "It's not like anything I've had before. And although I don't always want something deep fried, I can understand why this could be quite satisfying."

"You've gotta try the guac and mango salsa!" Her words seemed happy.

"Together?" She questioned.

"Duh! That's why they came together!" Jane nudged playfully.

Hesitant, Maura picked up a little plastic spoon and began to place a small amount of each dip on a single tortilla chip.

Jane, with a complete disregard for any eating utensil at this point used a chip to scoop each dip onto different sides.

"Mmm!" She moaned as she took her first bite. "They're so good!"

Jane, surprised at how non-descript her comment was, then said, "Really? That's all of you got?"

She thought for a moment before responding. "Well, the flavours complement each other quite well. The creamy texture of the avocado and the zesty flavour of the mango salsa create a wonderful collaboration of flavour." She paused for a moment before returning the sass. "Is that more to your liking?"

They laughed, and Maura grabbed another chip and dunked it in each dip.

"Immerse yourself in the culture, right?"

Jane smiled at Maura contentedly, but couldn't quite think of what to say. "Yes," is all she got out.

There was a pause in their game as they continued devouring the foods before them.

Leaning back on the chair, Maura asked, "How does anyone bowl after eating all that?"

"Are you kidding? That food is what gives this place life. It makes you bowl better." She paused. "It makes your belly bigger. It makes everything better!"  
She laughed, and Maura joined her.

•••

Leaning over toward the car, Maura smiled, one hand on the roof and the other on the open door. "Well, thank you Jane. I had a lovely time tonight," she said with a sense of genuine happiness. And she was, genuinely happy. This evening had been a significant occurrence in the journey of their friendship, and it was one that she in no way regretted. She did, however, think not so fondly on her decision to have a second drink. The first one packed a real punch.

"Yeah, anytime," she smiled a quiet smile. Jane had also enjoyed the night, but it was bowling and she always liked bowling… almost. But tonight, she really had fun. She had underestimated Maura's athletic ability (which she won't be doing again), and honestly just had a really good, judgement free time with her friend… _"friend" _That was a word she hadn't really used in quite a while.

"Anyway, I should be going in. Thank you again," she paused. "You know, if you would have me, I mightn't even mind doing it again sometime." Maura said in a leading way.

Quick to crack a joke, Jane said, "Yeah, maybe I'll even let you win." A small smile overtook her lips. "G'night, Maur."

"Good night, Jane."

* * *

**Hey lovely readers, **

**Please don't hesitate to leave a comment below. I love feedback. Even if you've got ideas about what you think should happen next, send them on through. But honestly, I'd love to know how you're finding the story. **

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Take care. Hope you're happy and well.**

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**PS. Sorry it's such a short update.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to all of you who left such kind feedback.**

**Thank you also to the person who advised me of some missing content. **

**Hope you're enjoying reading the story. Feel free to message me with ideas, comments, prompts and hellos!**

**Fun Fact: All of the foods that were tried in the previous chapter/s were taken directly from the actually bowling alley referenced. **

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Over the next few days, Maura felt this unspoken understanding of Jane and the decisions she was making day to day. It was almost as if going bowling with her and completed the puzzle that was Jane Rizzoli. With a tough exterior, and a habit for keeping people at arm's length, she was a damn good detective and a good person all the same. This only seemed to make her more curious though. As a result, she also felt slightly more at ease in herself as well, as if a balance had been reached which allowed her days to run fluently.

Jane, too, felt slightly more at ease the days following. At least, around Maura anyway. She didn't mind keeping bowling to herself, in fact she preferred. All the same though, when she was around Maura it was like she didn't have to hide this secret anymore.

Maura's phone buzzed, as she was making her way through paperwork. It was a welcome distraction.

_Wanna grab dinner later?_

She paused for a moment to review how much paperwork she had to complete.

_Sure. Would seven be okay?_

A reply appeared almost instantly.

_Yep. What d'you feel like?_

Maura laughed to herself.

_Busy day in homicide, I take it, detective. ;P Ah, I don't mind. Something… Thai, perhaps?_

Even Maura had learned how to use common emoticons.

_SO BUSY. Sure. Thai Naan? _

The sarcasm was blatant.

_Sounds lovely. I shall see you then. _

Getting through the remainder of her work was mindless, so she had plenty of time to plan out what she might order this evening. It had been a while since she'd had Thai food, and was looking forward to the fresh flavours.

•••

"Man, I'm hungry," Jane remarked already perusing the menu. It was likely she'd end up getting her usual, but she liked to entertain the thought of having something different.

"I, too, am quite looking forward to this. It's been so long since I've had Thai."

"You know, me too," Jane said quite surprised.

Maura was more surprised that her brain had actually stopped focusing on the menu for more than a second.

"Then, it'll be a pleasant meal for both of us then," she smiled.

"You mean…" Her voice lowered to a seductive level. "Not just because of the company?" She raised an eye brow, and stared at Maura waiting for her response.

"Well," she shrugged, jokingly. "Perhaps not because of the company at all." The corners of her lips turned up quite smugly.

"Hey! Now that was just rude," she laughed.

Maura laughed too, before gesturing to Jane that the waiter was coming up behind her so she should pick her food. To be honest though, the food wasn't that important. Far be it for Maura Isles to be unappreciative of a nutritious and also delicious meal, and that she was certainly not tonight either. It just so happened that she had a few questions that had been on her mind that she was hoping to find the answers to.

"What?" She said with a confused and slightly uncomfortable look on her face. "Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No." Maura shook her head quite unphased be her confusion. "I was simply sorting through some thoughts, and you just happened to be seated where my gaze had temporarily fixed."

"Care to share?" She said, still subconsciously feeling her teeth with her tongue to make sure.

Maura let out a little huff of air, before furrowing her eye brows in curiosity. "Why do you bowl?"

"Why not?" Jane said, keeping it light.

"Well, I suppose many wouldn't for a number of reasons. Excess weight baring, the irrational fear of becoming lopsided, because one didn't think they were any good, because they were unco-"

"Okay, okay. So lots of reasons." She relented with a joking tone in her voice.

Maura pursed her lips, unimpressed by Jane's lack of desired responses.

She shrugged her shoulders in response. "I dunno," she paused to think. "It's just something I can do that's mine."

At first Maura feels quite happy with this answer because, in her own way, she can relate. "Well, we all need something that is our own. Free of judgement or expectation."

Jane just nods slightly with a small smile of agreeance.

"But why bowling?" Her curiosity creeping back in.

"Wow, you don't give up, do you?" Jane joked.

"It's a valid question. You could have picked anything else to do. You could've chosen many other things. Running, dance, cooking, stamp collecting."

"Stamp collecting?" She said with a smirk. "Really, Maura? Do I seem like someone who would enjoy collecting small, often used bits of paper?" She laughed?

Maura too smiled, although she was far from deterred. She did however decide to take a different approach. "Well, I don't know. Why did you first start bowling? What got you interested in the sport?"

"Firstly, I'm not entirely sure I would call it a sport. And before you say otherwise, I do know that it takes skill and practise and blah blah blah. But baseball is a real sport. Hockey is a real sport. Bowling… a game disguised as a sport." She couldn't think of a better way to word it, despite being sure that was incredibly unclear and/or inaccurate. "Secondly, I started when I was in high school," she began. "I haven't played regularly ever since, but I tend to come to it from time to time." Beginning to reminisce, she continued on. "My uncle owned an alley nearby, so my family got to go there whenever we wanted. I'd like to say that it was one of the few things my family could do without arguing, but that'd be a lie," she paused, thoughtfully. "It's just… a fun game." She smiled.

Maura liked this answer. She knew Jane's inner child was alive and kicking, but she always loved getting to see it, all the same.

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**Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. **

**Please let me know your thoughts about what you'd like to happen next. I'm lost.**


	7. Author's Note

**Hello lovely people, **

**Thanks for clicking on! **

**To the person who commented on the last chapter about what defines a sport versus what defines a game, thank you for taking the time. I completely understand those definitions, and believe that should be respected. Please know though that it wasn't actually a personal opinion that I thought bowling was a sport. I was simply trying to keep it true to the Jane Rizzoli that I have in mind. I hope you understand. **

**To those of you who have kindly commented with prompts, and/or ideas about where this story could go, I truly appreciate it. **

**I'm a little disappointed to say that this story is going on hiatus. Hopefully not for long though. I have every intention of getting back to it though – I promise.**

**Hope you're all happy and well. **

**CC**


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